NBC asks for six more scripts of series

"Lipstick Jungle" won't be filming any more episodes this season, but its writers are going back to work.

NBC has ordered six more scripts for the dramedy series, which is based on "Sex and the City" author Candace Bushnell's novel about three powerful New York women. The order comes with an eye toward next season, the showbiz trade papers say, offering a glimmer of hope that "Lipstick Jungle" could survive into the fall.

The show, which stars Brooke Shields, Lindsay Price and Kim Raver, finished seven episodes before the writers' strike began and will not go back into production for this season. Its finale is scheduled for Thursday, March 20.

Through its first three episodes, "Lipstick Jungle" is averaging about 6.4 million viewers and a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49. Those are hardly stellar numbers, but with the strike compressing the normal pilot season and NBC talking about being in original programming year-round, the network may need all the options it can get.

On the bright side, "Lipstick" does draw a bigger audience than the other show with "SATC" in its DNA, ABC's "Cashmere Mafia." It's averaging about 5.7 viewers per week.